One Night With The Billionaire Too Read online

  One Night With The Billionaire Too

  Cassie Cross

  Contents

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  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Preview: Meeting Mr. Wright

  Preview: The Billionaire’s Desire

  About the Author

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  Copyright © 2019 by Cassie Cross

  * * *

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for reviews or other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Chase Jennings walks into his office at 8:55 A.M. on the dot. He has a meeting at nine that he doesn’t want to be late for, but he cuts it close mostly to annoy his assistant. She’s a gorgeous, redheaded spitfire and he loves the way her eyes light up with exasperation whenever he pushes her buttons.

  Naturally, he does this as often as he can.

  Amber Reid teases him with confidence, isn’t a social climber or an ass-kisser, and isn’t afraid to offer her opinion. For a man like Chase who’s spent most of his life surrounded by yes men, having a woman around who tells it like it is? That’s an increasingly valuable commodity in his life.

  He knows he can count on her to have thought of every possible thing he might ask for before it even occurs to him to ask. He needs a report? It’s already on his desk. He remembers to RSVP to a gala? She did it weeks ago. He forgets a birthday on his calendar? She has a gift wrapped and ready for him. She even somehow manages to have a cup of coffee waiting on his desk that’s hotter than the one he brings with him when he stops in the lobby Starbucks and gets it himself.

  The give and take has become a game between the two of them, one Chase looks forward to playing every morning. He’s grown to like the satisfied look she has when she surprises him.

  Only today, he’s the one who’s surprised when he turns down the hallway that leads to his office and finds her desk empty. The sweater she usually wears is neatly draped across the back of her chair. She always complains that the office is too cold in the morning, but by the time the sun makes its way over to their side of the building in the late afternoon, the sweater is ancient history. If she’s not wearing it, she’s not here.

  Chase pulls his phone out of his pocket. There’s a flurry of missed texts on his home screen.

  * * *

  Taking leave today. Family emergency. Sorry for short notice.

  * * *

  9 A.M. meeting info is in red folder, 11 A.M. meeting info in purple, 1 P.M. is green, 3 P.M. Blue

  * * *

  Only call me under threat of alien invasion or if the building is on fire. If latter, please save my fern.

  * * *

  Chase smiles as he fires off a text asking if everything is okay. He walks into his office and red, purple, green and blue folders are neatly stacked next to his keyboard. There are two piping hot cups of coffee as well, one for him and one for his 9 A.M. guest.

  She somehow manages to be on top of things even when she isn’t here, and he can’t help but smile.

  His phone lights up with another text:

  * * *

  It’s not okay, but it will be. See you tmrw.

  * * *

  Now worry tops the disappointment that he’s not going to see her today. The disappointment is a new feeling, something that he doesn’t like examining too closely. There’s always been a thing between the two of them—this crackling awareness and flirtatiousness—ever since she started working for him five years ago. Chase always figured that it was the natural result of them both being young and attractive. They’d tease each other, flirt, and go on about their business.

  He’d go out with a different woman almost every night, and Amber moved on with her life outside of the office. Chase doesn’t know if Amber’s had any boyfriends over the years, he always made it a point not to ask. He never wanted to know, and never gave much thought to the reason why he didn’t want to know. As he grows out of his playboy phase, he’s beginning to understand now what he didn’t want to understand then: Amber has a special place in his life, and it scares the living hell out of him.

  Chase sits down at his desk, pulls his laptop out of his bag and turns it on. He flips through the papers in the red folder as he waits for his login to process, and realizes that he needs a copy of last quarter’s earnings report, which is definitely not in there. He grins, because that’s something he’s definitely going to tease Amber about later.

  Of course, that’s when there’s a knock on his door. It’s Jesse, one of the finance guys. He steps forward and hands over a red folder.

  “Amber called and told me to drop this off as soon as you arrived.”

  Chase takes it, already knowing what’s inside. Sure enough, last quarter’s earnings report.

  Damn it.

  “How did you know that I was here?”

  “She told me to have security call me when you walked through the door.”

  Chase smiles. “Thanks for this.”

  As soon as Jesse leaves, Chase’s longtime best friend and occasional business partner Jason Turner walks in.

  “Hey buddy,” Jason says as Chase stands and gives his friend a hug.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Chase replies.

  “I haven’t been gone that long.”

  “Two weeks buried in wedding details, three weeks in San Francisco, another two weeks buried in wedding details.”

  Jason laughs as Chase hands over his cup of coffee. “You’re better at keeping up with my calendar than my assistant is.” He glances back at Amber’s desk. “Speaking of...”

  “She’s out this morning. Family emergency.” Chase tries and fails to keep his grumpiness at her absence out of his voice.

  Jason bites back a smile. “Just trying to assess how pissy you’re going to be today since she’s gone.”

  “She somehow managed to get all of my meeting materials ready and got us both coffee despite not being here. How pissy can I be?”

  Jason hums. Chase can’t tell if he’s agreeing or disagreeing.

  “You have a social-event-of-the-year wedding coming up in a couple weeks. Focus on that instead of my love life.”

  “See? Pissy.”

  “You’re gonna be a married man soon,” Chase continues, desperately trying to change the subject. “Who would’ve thought?”

  “Kaia made it easy to want to settle down. Seems
like you’re getting a taste of that yourself.”

  Changing of subject? Failed.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Jason shrugs. “I had dinner with some friends the other night, they said they hadn’t seen you out lately. No news on Page Six.”

  Chase rolls his eyes. “You keep up with Page Six?”

  “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, gossip was the only way I could keep up with you. But there’s nothing lately.”

  “Between the smart wearables rollout disaster and some other things I’ve had going on, I just haven’t had the time to go out much.”

  In reality, Chase doesn’t want to make time to go out with anyone but Amber, but he’s not sure how to cross that professional line between them. He’s not sure he even wants to. She’s invaluable to him. If he fucks things up and winds up losing her, he doesn’t know what he’d do.

  “Speaking of the smart wearables rollout disaster...” Jason says, finally getting them back on topic. “What are we going to do about this Pearson deal?”

  A month ago, Chase’s company—Jentech—released a cutting-edge fitness-focused smart watch that stood out in the already flooded market. They were riding high on early reviews of their proprietary features, until last week when a thirteen year-old at an international hacking competition discovered a glitch that left user data exposed.

  Chase’s idea to mitigate the disaster was to partner with Pearson, the industry’s leading cyber security company. The partnership makes complete sense for Jentech and would be Pearson’s first leap into the consumer electronics market, but persuading Pearson’s CEO has been a tough sell thus far.

  It’s a family-owned company, and the patriarch doesn’t much care for Chase. His main sticking point seems to be Chase’s rich and varied dating history that was spelled out in details across the tabloid pages. But he didn’t get to where he is by giving up, and Chase Jennings is nothing if not persistent.

  He refuses to give up on this partnership.

  “He’s a tough nut to crack,” Chase confesses. “But I’m not taking no for an answer. He has that tech meetup at his place in Connecticut next week. I have no idea how I managed to get invited, but I figure approaching him at home when his defenses are down is my best plan of attack.”

  “Personal feelings aside, you’re a major player in the industry. Even if he doesn’t want to partner up, such a public snub isn’t a good look. He’s a smart businessman if nothing else.” Jason takes a sip of his coffee. “Meeting with him on his own turf when his guard is down isn’t the worst idea.”

  Chase smiles. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. We’d be in a casual setting, I could lay on the charm…”

  “I think laying on the charm is where you’re failing. He doesn’t fall for bullshit.” Jason straightens up in his chair as a new idea hits. “You do have someone on your team that is naturally charming, someone he has a lot of respect for, someone both Pearson and his wife adore.”

  They both look at each other at the same time and say, “Amber.”

  He doesn’t know why he didn’t think of this before. Of course she could be the one to open this door.

  “Think you can get her to do it?”

  Chase debates on whether he should wait until tomorrow, or text her now. If he does it now, he can also check in to see if there’s anything he can do to help with her family emergency. He’s surprised to find that the second reason compels him to pick up his phone more than the first.

  He starts typing. “Only one way to find out.”

  Chapter Two

  Amber Reid is curled up in the corner of her sofa, cradling a cup of warm coffee between her hands as she wills herself to stay awake. Her older sister Sasha is spread out across the cushions like a starfish, her left leg dangling onto the floor and resting atop a pile of used tissues.

  She showed up at Amber’s apartment late last night with red, puffy eyes and a suitcase in each hand, so distraught that she had to explain three times what had happened. Turns out, Sasha returned home early from a work trip to find her longtime boyfriend Trey fucking some random woman in their bed.

  They did it on brand new sheets that he bought because Sasha fell in love with them at a small linen shop in Brooklyn a few weeks ago.

  It’s a detail that she keeps repeating to the point that Amber considers going over to their apartment, ripping them off the bed and tossing them into a giant barrel on the sidewalk outside so that Sasha can watch them burn.

  Like an exorcism of sorts. It would be a cathartic exercise for Amber, too.

  Sadly, the Reid women are no strangers to this sort of thing.

  Their father was a serial cheater, and their family had never recovered from it once their mom found out. It happened the same way it did with Sasha, coming home early to the surprise of a lifetime. A few days later they’d all gotten a complete picture of just how many women there had been. It was devastating.

  The separation was ugly and final. Sasha and Amber had only spoken to their father a handful of times since. Their brother Tom visited him once for Christmas.

  If there’s a bright spot in this mess, it’s that Trey showed Sasha who he was before they wound up getting married. They’d been talking about it recently; he’d been hinting about a ring. Better to find out now than to waste years on a liar, and bring children into the lie.

  So, it’s been a long night of tending to wounds both old and new. Amber hates missing work, but it had to be done.

  “He’s taking her to Rome,” Sasha says miserably. She reaches into the box of Kleenex she’s cradling against her chest and plucks out the last one. Amber grabs a fresh box from the coffee table, rips off the top and hands it over. “We’d been planning that trip for months. I wanted to go to Paris, but he insisted Rome was more romantic. Now I know why! Turns out his side piece Julia has an apartment there.” Sasha spits out her name like it tastes rotten in her mouth. “He told me he’d rented this cozy little Airbnb, but it was actually her apartment. He acted like we were paying for it, and I gave him my half!”

  It’s at this moment that Amber has to remind herself that murder is a felony. Trey’s a festering asshole and a thief. Best of luck with that, Julia. You deserve the absolute worst!

  Sasha gulps down the rest of her mimosa. She’d asked for hard liquor, but Amber convinced her to settle for something lighter considering prolonged drinking was on the menu during this crisis.

  “Rome sucks,” Amber lies. She’s only been there once—on a business trip with Chase—and she quite liked it. “Fresh pasta is an overrated carb bomb, and no one obeys the traffic laws. Everyone drives wherever they want….it’s mayhem.”

  “Maybe he’ll get hit by a truck.”

  Amber lets out a surprised laugh. Sasha starts crying again. “I didn’t mean that,” she weeps. “I don’t want him dead, I just wish he wasn’t a cheating asshole. How could I have missed that huge red flag?”

  Amber doesn’t have an answer to that one. Trey had fooled her, too. She’s never seen a single glimpse of the deceiving, cheating asshole lying beneath the exterior of the guy who outwardly adored her sister.

  “I don’t know how Mom got through this. And she was married with kids!”

  Amber chooses to look on the bright spot as she comfortingly rubs her sister’s calf. “But look at her now! She took her divorce settlement and went traveling. She’s happy and having the time of her life.”

  “Right now I would settle for not being miserable.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  Sasha looks at her through red-rimmed eyes and gives her the best smile she’s capable of at the moment. “You’re doing it.”

  “Why don’t you give me the keys to your apartment? I’ll go over and put a little bleach in his shampoo, sprinkle medicated powder in his underwear drawer. I could turn all his pants into shorts. You know he’d hate that. He’s so proud of his wardrobe. Well, not anymore, asshole!”

  For a fe
w moments, Sasha looks like she’s considering the offer. “You can’t. He’ll definitely press charges.”

  “Psssh. Chase will take care of it,” Amber replies confidently.

  Her sister gives her a skeptical look.

  “What? He will! What good is working for a gazillionaire if I don’t use his connections to get myself out of trouble every now and then.”

  “Trouble is an unpaid parking ticket, not breaking and entering and vandalism.”

  “You’d be giving me the keys, so it’s not breaking and entering,” Amber teases.

  Sasha shoots her sister an unimpressed look before she reaches for a tissue and blows her nose. “We just moved into that amazing apartment. It took me months to find something with a decent view in our price range, and of course he didn’t help. We bought all that new furniture. What a waste.”

  “Finders keepers is the number one rule in the New York City breakup guidebook. Who gets to keep the apartment is the most contentious part of divorce proceedings here for a reason.”

  “We never married, so there’s no divorce lawyer to argue my case. Now I’m homeless, out half the cost of an Airbnb that was free in the first place, out the past six years of my life…Fuck me for thinking I could he happy, right?”

  Amber doesn’t have the heart to tell her that this is exactly the reason why she avoids romantic entanglements. One person always gets screwed over in the end, and she’ll be damned if it’s her. Not after she’s had so many warning bells shoved in her face thanks to her unlucky-in-love family.